Computers can come with a variety of display sizes. Desktop computers are adapted to be connected to large screen while mobile computers are required to deal with much smaller displays.
Magnifying information elements on a display generally requires magnification and reduction of the subject object displayed to maximize the use of the display area. Magnifying and reducing objects on a display equally magnifies intervening between-objects portions that do not need to be magnified because they do not add more meaning to the subject objects. Magnifying intervening between-objects portions use more display area that could be used more usefully by other objects.
Layout of objects can vary in accordance with a variety of possible uses. A problem arises with webpages, especially when seen on small screens like PDA's or mobile phones, which need to be magnified. Magnification of a webpage can be required for, for instance, becoming readable. Under some circumstances the magnification of the text is required for readability although the magnification of the margins around the text or enclosures in the text, like publicity or even images, might no be desirable considering the small size of the display area.
For instance, objects on a web page can include text and images that bring meaning to a reader. The text and the images are generally separated with margins thereof. Magnifying, for instance, a virtual newspaper to read it with, illustratively, a mobile phone, is going to also magnify the margins that are of no help for the reader since their smaller size, when they are not magnified, is sufficient to clearly distinguish the text from the images. In other words, their magnification is a non-optimal use of the display area that is available.
Similar principles can be applied to menu items using, for example, icons or the like in a predetermined graphical arrangements. Intervening margins between the menu items are magnified with the menu items and space is lost on the display area of the display while their enlargement (the margins) is of little help for the user since their smaller size was already sufficient to allow proper use of the menu items.
Today's information management systems are dealing with tremendous amounts of documents and other files. Files management systems are evolving toward a more graphical environment to facilitate document navigation and management. United States Patent Application Publication No.: US 2007/0214169 A1, published on Sep. 13, 2007 discloses a Multi-dimensional locating system and method (title). The patent application discloses ways for managing and displaying axes of documents and other computer-readable files. An axis of documents that groups a plurality of documents along a predetermined order, inter alia, is taught.
The use of only a small number of documents on a display might result in a poor use of the usable display area. A larger number of documents on an axis might be desirable. Similarly, a plurality of axes of documents might also be desirable to provide more information to a viewer. A number of challenges need to be addressed in order to provide some functions performed on a significant quantity of documents and/or a plurality of axes.
One of these challenges is to maximize the use of a display area when a number of documents on a single axis, or disposed on many axes displaying documents thereon, are simultaneously displayed. Magnifying (or reducing) the documents and/or the axes equally magnifies (or reduces) the margins around the documents and the axes. The magnification of the margins with the same magnification level for the documents and the axes might not be desirable. A small margin can be sufficient even with a strong magnification. The magnification of margins proportionally increases the non-useful area on the display.
In view of the prior art it appears that improvements over the prior art is desirable to improve the user experience and usability either with innovative graphical, structural or functional improvements.